It's Not Such A Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World
by Starzangel
Summary: Could he have been saved? COMPLETE
1. Part I

Disclaimer: Charmed isn't mine - including the original version of 'It's A Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World Part 2'. Any characters, plot points, dialogue, etc, used from that episode were not my creation.

Acknowledgements: Janelle Hackbarth's transcript of the episode at Charmed Scripts dot tv has been an invaluable resource - I would have taken ten-thousand years to write this story without it!

Author's Note: This is an adaptation of the last third of the episode, with numerous changes, both major and minor, including additions, removals and alterations of scenes, dialogue, etc, etc.

* * *

**It's Not Such A Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad World**

By Starzangel

* * *

**.I.**

It hurt. Oh God, it hurt. There was a boiling pit of agony in his gut that felt like it was tearing his insides apart. Sweat pooled on his forehead and he struggled to breathe. He curled over on his side, a hand reaching out and clawing at the rug, while the other pressed tight over the athame wound.

He was horribly alone in the attic of the Halliwell Manor; the playpen beside him was ominously empty. Gideon had taken Wyatt.

Chris closed his eyes, throwing his head back in suffering. He'd failed them. He'd failed his brother. His breath hissed in and out of his clenched teeth, as he tried to fight the pain. Wrapping both arms around his stomach, he twisted and rolled in a futile, instinctive attempt to escape it. But he couldn't win against Gideon's magic. It was killing him…

There was only one person who could help his brother now.

Chris sucked in a deep breath and found the strength to cry out for his father again.

"_Dad_…!"

His body was beginning to fail him and his movements gradually ceased, until he lay still. He could feel blood soaking through his shirt and over his hands. The blood was hot, but he felt cold, so very cold…and it becoming hard to keep awake…

Distantly, he heard orbing chimes… Someone touched his back, but it all seemed so strangely far away…

Then he felt himself moving, a fresh flame of pain bursting from his wound as it burnt with renewed vigour, and he felt nauseous. Chris groaned, coming back up out of the haze, and his eyes slid open. He found himself lying on his back, looking up into the alarmed face of his father.

Chris swallowed thickly, then forced the warning out between his lips, "Wyatt…"

Leo turned towards the playpen, fear seizing him upon seeing it was empty. He looked back at Chris.

"Gideon…" the young man gasped. His face twisted in agony and Leo grasped hold of his shoulder. "Gideon…took Wyatt…"

"It's ok, it's ok," Leo rushed, trying to soothe him. He gently pulled his son's hands away from his stomach and held his own above the spreading bloodstain. Golden light shone down. But the wound didn't heal.

Chris groaned, the pain not ceasing.

Leo met his son's eyes, fear and anguish evident, as he whispered, "It's not working."

"Athame...was blessed…can feel it…" Chris explained. His eyelids drifted closed, and his face went still, his breathing slowing.

"Chris? Chris?" Leo gently shook his shoulder in panic.

Chris groaned, but weakly and didn't open his eyes.

Leo slipped his hands under his son and carefully lifted him up into his arms, rising to his feet as he did so. They both disappeared in blue orbs, leaving behind the empty attic and a dark-red stain on the floor.

* * *

In his Underworld lair, Barbas picked up Gideon's athame from where the Elder had put it down on a cabinet. He fingered the blade, noting the blood drying on the shining metal, and he looked across at its owner thoughtfully. 

Gideon still had his eyes keenly on the young, fair-haired child, as he had since bringing him to the cavern.

"The great big Elder's afraid of the teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy baby," Barbas mocked, tilting his head in amusement. "How cute."

Gideon didn't even grace him with a scowl, let alone a glance, his attention devoted to the twice-blessed child.

"Oh, he's much more than that," Gideon said, knowingly, and began to circle the little boy. "Cocky, too. Notice how he hasn't even raised his shield."

"His shield isn't up because you've pierced it already," Barbas told him, impatiently. "Every time you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself..." With that, the demon pounced forward with the athame aimed at Wyatt.

The boy was gone in an instant. Disappearing in a shower of orbs, leaving Barbas stumbling to regain his balance and Gideon to cry out in dismay.

"Now look what you've done!" the Elder yelled, furiously grabbing hold of the demon's jacket.

"Slippery little devil, isn't he?" Barbas grinned into Gideon's face. "You didn't tell me that he could orb."

"I didn't know he could!" Gideon cried. "That's why I wanted to be careful. Although…" Gideon looked thoughtful, and let go of the demon. "I doubt he's able to orb out of the Underworld. Even he's not that powerful yet."

"I suppose all of this means that you've lost your interest in fixing the world at this moment," Barbas commented.

"The world stays exactly as it is until Wyatt is eliminated," Gideon declared, firmly. "The Charmed Ones can't be given the chance to rescue him. You and I will have to work together to find him, quickly!"

* * *

Leo gently lowered Chris down onto Piper's bed, and the young man groaned in pain, his eyelids fluttering. The father carefully peeled back his son's t-shirt to take a look at the bleeding stab wound in his abdomen. 

"You have to find Wyatt."

Leo looked up at the sound of Chris's frail voice, surprised to find the young man's eyes open and staring at him.

"We'll find him together," Leo stated. He held his hands out over Chris's wound.

"Won't work...you already tried," Chris told him. "Gideon's magic...only he can stop it." He pushed his father's hands away. "Just…go. Save Wyatt...saves the future...you know that."

"Gideon doesn't know how to kill Wyatt. We've still got time."

"Only until...trauma turns him," Chris reminded, quietly.

"I am not going to choose between you and Wyatt, Chris," Leo said, his voice breaking. "I can't."

"Don't have to, Dad." Chris smiled faintly. "Find Gideon...you save us both."

"Alright," Leo finally agreed, the reasoning getting through to him. "But I'm not leaving you alone," he insisted. "I'll get one of your aunts to watch over you."

"I'll...wait here…" Chris tried to joke, but closed his eyes in pain.

"You're going to be fine. I promise." Leo leant over and kissed his son on the forehead. "I'll be right back."

Chris nodded, opening his eyes to see his father orb out.

* * *

Leo found Phoebe and Paige in the hospital waiting room, messing around with a camera and ludicrously happy. They frowned at his sudden orb-accompanied appearance. 

"Don't you think you should be more careful? I mean, you don't want to bring back the witch trails," Phoebe hissed, giving him a peculiar cheerful grin.

"Gideon got to Chris," Leo told them, not wasting any time. "He's hurt bad."

"What? Now, why would Gideon want to hurt Chris?" Paige derided, grinning.

The two sisters were clearly still fully under the effects of Piper's spell that matched them to the current twisted state of the world. Leo balled his fists in frustration.

"To get to Wyatt," Leo pushed. "Which he's done."

Phoebe smiled at him. "Gideon is the paragon of all good." Her grin widened. "I told you that, remember?" She held up the camera. "Smile!"

Leo raised a hand to shield himself from the flash. "But he's _not_," he protested. "Gideon's trying to kill my sons, your nephews!"

Phoebe gave him a scolding frown, then cheerily raised her camera again. "Don't be ridiculous, I'm sure –"

"You don't understand," Leo cried, grabbing hold of the camera. "Chris is _dying_!"

The sisters' smiles fell. Suddenly they were listening.

"What?" Paige looked bewildered.

"You have to help me save him," Leo pleaded. "Come on, I know deep down inside family matters to you more than this…twisted sense of right and wrong. You love him. I know you do. And that's gotta trump everything, even this stupid spell you're under. Please…" His teary eyes bored into them. "You have to help me save them both!"

Paige and Phoebe glowed with magic, the spell lifting.

"What just happened?" Paige asked.

"I think we were under a spell and he took us out of it," Phoebe answered.

"I have to find Gideon. But somebody needs to be with Chris," Leo told them, urgently. "Come on, let's go."

Phoebe looked anxiously at Leo. "We can't all go. Uh…Piper's being prepped for surgery."

"Surgery?" Leo paled. "What's the matter?"

"They're not saying." Paige laid a hand on her brother-in-law's arm. "Don't worry. We're not going to lose either Chris." She turned to Phoebe. "I'll go home. You stay here." She looked back at Leo. "And you, you go find Gideon."

* * *

Chris was drifting in a haze...black tendrils of mist swirled over him and pulled him down...into the black...then the darkness faded and he surfaced, vaguely aware of his mother's bedroom for a moment...before slipping away again... 

He thought he distantly heard Paige's voice raised in anger, and the sound of heavy treads on the stairs, but he couldn't keep hold of it...everything went dark for a while.

The next time Chris came to, it was to loud muffled sounds. He blearily opened his eyes and then started, finding himself surrounded by a SWAT team pointing guns at him. Groaning, confused and in pain, he searched for a familiar face in the room.

Daryl was the foremost figure, his weapon raised and his expression cold.

Then Paige pushed her way through, coming to kneel beside the bed. She took Chris's hand in hers.

"Chris?" She looked frightened.

"Hey…" His throat was dry, his voice feebly trembling though it.

"Hold on, ok?" She squeezed his hand tightly, her eyes strangely bright in the dim light.

"What's wrong with him?" Daryl had moved forward and was leaning over Paige's shoulder, his eyes looking at Chris's ashen face and then fixing on the large bloodstain on his t-shirt.

"He's…" Paige couldn't manage to say it, a tear spilling over and running down her cheek.

However, Daryl could see clearly enough for himself. His expression softened and he lowered his gun, gesturing for the SWAT team to do the same.

"We're done here," he said.

* * *

Leo pulled back the thick curtain, revealing the large mirror behind it and showing his Evil counterpart doing the exact same thing, in place of his own reflection. His two selves stared at each other in surprise for a moment. 

The Evil Leo was the first to shrug it off, cutting to the chase, "He's got to be hiding in the Underworld."

"I agree. It's the only place he can go to avoid being sensed." Leo sighed. "But it's too vast – we have to narrow it down."

"Well, somebody's got to helping him, right?"

"Yeah, but who?"

"Whoever helped him get to Piper in the hospital," the Evil Leo reasoned.

"I went to the hospital and tried to pick up a trail…"

"But I was overwhelmed with…hope."

"Fear."

"Barbas!" they said in unison.

"So, if we find Barbas…" Leo began.

"We'll find Gideon," his Evil counterpart completed.

"For both our sons."

Faces fixed with determination, they both vanished into blue orbs.

* * *

Leo reappeared in the second floor hallway of the Halliwell Manor, and was shocked to see Daryl and Sheridan exiting Piper's bedroom, a SWAT team following them out. 

"What's going on? What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Sheridan replied, blandly. "We didn't have to."

"I'm sorry, Leo." Daryl's sympathetic tone and expression triggered a flare of panic in the father.

Leo roughly pushed passed them, rushing into the bedroom. He found Paige knelt at Chris's bedside and she turned upon hearing him enter. There was no need for her to speak, even if she could; her grief-stricken expression said it all.

Leo shakily moved closer, biting his lower lip to stop it trembling. He looked down at his son, who lay ghostly pale and limp, his breathing loud and strained. His eyes welled up with tears.

Chris's glazed stare latched onto his father. "Dad…"

Leo reached out to gently cup son's head, his throat too choked to respond.

Paige stood up to give him some room, quietly moving to stand near the doorway.

Swallowing thickly, Leo finally found his voice. "I'm here, Chris. You hold on, ok? Hold on…hold on. I'm here."

"Ok…" Chris's eyes drifted closed.

Wrapped in the dark mist, Chris heard his father talking to him, urgently pleading, but could only make out some of the words. He felt him nearby though, his strong hand clasping his. It comforted him, easing his fears as his senses slowly left him bit by bit. He knew it wouldn't be long now.

Leo wiped at his eyes with his free hand, trying to find it in himself to be strong for his dying son.

"Have you had any luck finding Gideon?" Paige asked, softly, from behind him.

Leo hung his head. "Not much." He glanced over at her. "He's somewhere in the Underworld and he's working with Barbas."

"Barbas?" Paige came back over to the bed. "Gideon's teamed up with a demon?"

"An act of Great Evil in our world restores the balance," Leo explained. "I think that's what he's using Barbas for. And I think it's how he got to Piper, and to me."

"If they're working together, that means they must be in contact with each other, right?" Paige said, her mind racing.

"So?" Leo stared down at Chris, his expression forlorn.

"So, next time they try to contact each other, you intercept it."

Leo's eyes flew to her, suddenly alight with hope. She smiled faintly in encouragement. Then he turned back to his son.

"Chris?" Leo gently lifted him up into his arms, and the young man groaned.

Chris's bleary eyes opened and he listlessly took in his new position with confusion. "Where…we going?"

"To find Gideon."

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Part II

**.II. **

Leo's voice rang out in Barbas's seemingly empty lair, echoing off the rock walls. "Wyatt? Wyatt? Can you hear me? It's Daddy. Wyatt?"

Blue orbs chimed in, materialising a small child in the middle of the cavern. The little boy looked around eagerly. But it was Gideon who swept off his magical invisibility and stepped towards him, not his father.

"Hello, son," Gideon greeted in Leo's voice.

Five orbs circled Wyatt, setting crystals around him, and a cage flared into appearance. The child froze in fear, the blue energy trapping him.

"So sorry to lure you like this," Gideon said, almost apologetic. He turned away and called out, "Barbas. Where are you? Barbas!"

Barbas appeared in a whirl of flame. However, blue orbs appeared at the same time. Gideon stared in alarm as the light settled into the form of Leo. Barbas took one glance at the Elder carrying his dying son in his arms, graced Gideon with a pitying look and promptly left as quickly as he'd come.

Panic grabbed hold of Gideon, shaking his core. He watched nervously as Leo carefully lowered Chris to the ground.

Leo looked down at his son. Chris's face was still and his eyes closed, he didn't seem to move at all. A jolt of fear shot though Leo's chest. _No…he can't be…_ Terrified, Leo pressed his fingers to his son's neck, searching for a pulse, praying that it wasn't too late – that he hadn't gone.

He felt a weak push against his touch…then another…and another. Leo sighed in relief, passing a hand over his brow. Chris's pulse was thready, but still there. However, it was clear time was running out.

Seeing the other Elder's emotional turmoil gave Gideon confidence, and he silently crept into a position that put him between Leo and Wyatt's cage.

"It's for the best, Leo," Gideon said, quietly.

Leo straightened and faced Gideon, burning with anger. "How can you tell me that?" he demanded, furiously. "You're trying to kill my sons!"

Gideon swallowed nervously. "Chris wasn't planned. I didn't want to have to sacrifice him, too."

"Then heal him." Leo pointed sharply at where his son lay, dying. "Before it's too late."

"I…" At the glare Leo gave him, Gideon's protest faded and he failed to find a speakable advantage in not saving the boy. "Alright," he conceded.

Gideon reluctantly approached the prone form of Leo's son, banking on the other Elder's distress not letting his attention stray from Chris to his younger, caged child. As it was, he was able to crouch on the side closest to Wyatt, while Leo knelt on the other.

Leo waited impatiently as Gideon held his hands out over Chris's wound, emitting golden, healing light. He was acutely aware of how near he was to losing his son.

"Wait…" Gideon said, suddenly.

"What?" Leo asked. He stared at Gideon in alarm as he withdrew his hands. "What is it?" he cried.

"I can't do this," Gideon told him, intensely. "It's too late."

"What do you mean?" Leo frowned. "He's not dead yet; it isn't too late."

"You don't understand. It _is_ too late." Gideon slowly stood up. "It's too late to get him back to his own time. And we wouldn't know what would happen to him if he tried."

Leo rose up on the other side of Chris, a warning stare locked onto Gideon. "What are you saying?"

"He's about to be born into this time, with a future where Wyatt isn't the evil overlord of the world. The timeline has been changed too much. When Piper gives birth…" Gideon looked down at the young man at his feet, "it will effectively erase this Chris's past. Only he'll still be here. And who knows what that will do to the fabric of time!" Gideon's eyes were wide. "He can't exist twice in the same timeline!"

"The sisters have been back in time before," Leo replied, hotly. "They saw their younger selves and nothing untoward happened."

"Yes, but they were from the _same _timeline," Gideon cried, impatiently. "When baby Chris is born, his timeline will be this one, but the older Chris's timeline won't be – it shouldn't exist anymore, _he_ shouldn't exist anymore!"

"Are you saying he'll just cease to exist?" Leo paled in alarm.

"I would hope so, but I have a horrible feeling he won't!" Gideon exclaimed, forgetting with whom he was talking. "He's messed about with time too much. Nothing is clear-cut anymore. There are too many paradoxes!"

"He's been a paradox since he got here," Leo said, unconcerned.

"Exactly!" Gideon spat, exasperated.

"You're not going to be able to convince me to let my son die, Gideon," Leo said, evenly.

Gideon's breath came out in a hot rush of frustration, and he ran a hand through his neat hair, mussing it somewhat. When he lowered his hand, his face darkened…a menacing glint coming into his eyes.

"Well, that's too bad, Leo. We all have to make sacrifices for the Greater Good." His mouth curved with arrogance. "I'm not going to heal Chris, Leo. And I'm not letting Wyatt go."

Leo was bent anxiously over Chris, when suddenly he rose with a snarl. He grabbed fistfuls of Gideon's robes and threw him across the cavern.

Gideon slid across the ground, narrowly missing a collision with Wyatt, the magical cage blinding him for a moment, before hitting the wall. Pain erupted from his back and his breath was pushed from his lungs. Dizzily, Gideon watched Leo stride towards him, or rather, two Leos. He blinked against his double vision, fighting to get air back into his chest.

"You bastard!" Leo roared, grabbing hold of Gideon's robes again and dragging him to his feet.

Gideon was hunched over, coughing and pressing a hand to his chest, unable to resist as Leo pushed him towards the entrance to another chamber. With a disgusted grunt, Leo threw Gideon into the other room and then glanced back.

His gaze found his young child, standing rooted to the spot and looking dazed. Leo fought the urge to rush over and comfort Wyatt. There was something he had to do first.

"I'll be right back," he promised.

_TBC..._


	3. Part III

**.III. **

Chris could hear laboured breathing. A few moments later, he realised that it was his own. The dark mist slipped away a little more and his eyes focused on the jagged ceiling of a cavern. He had no idea where he was…

He turned his head to the side to look around, the movement making his temples throb. His vision blurred, the shape of a little, fair-haired boy swaying in front of him. Groaning, he fought to focus, eventually managing to clearly see and recognise Wyatt.

There was a distant pain in his abdomen, a fiery pain, which he remembered having felt for quite a while. The magic had gone from the wound now though, he'd been aware of Gideon reversing it…

He recalled Leo bringing him to the underworld, searching for Gideon…he must have found him.

Chris's vision dimmed, darkness encroaching again. Each breath was a struggle, each beat of his heart a little more unsteady. The wound wasn't a magical injury anymore, but it was still a stab wound. He was still dying…

Afraid, Chris fought to stay awake and stared at his brother, wondering what had happened, what had gone wrong, where his father was. Then something caught his attention.

Wyatt had something in his hand.

The boy was holding an iridescent blue stone. A crystal.

Matching crystals were scattered on the ground, three around his little feet and a fourth a few metres away against the wall. A crystal cage had been broken. Wyatt was free.

"Wyatt…" Chris croaked, dragging his limp arm out across the ground and weakly raising his wrist in an attempted beckoning gesture.

The boy's blue eyes flickered over him, his head moving to the side in a thoughtful fashion. Then he licked his lips and dropped the crystal. Eagerly, he toddled over.

Wyatt sunk down heavily onto his little knees beside Chris's chest. He looked the man over, his chin jutted out slightly.

"Help…please…" The words were breathy and frail, a dying man's last plea.

Chris watched in amazement as Wyatt shifted along on his knees until he was level with the bloodstain. Then the young boy reached out and held his little hands out over the wound. Bright, golden, glittering light cascaded down, passing into Chris's body.

Slowly, Chris felt his breathing ease and his head clear, and the burning pain in his stomach faded away.

A few minutes later, Wyatt withdrew his hands and sat back on his heels, waiting for the man to move.

Chris obliged, stiffly sitting up and wrapping an arm around his aching stomach. Settling himself in this more upright position, he took his arm away and looked down at his stainless t-shirt. He lifted it up, just to be sure. His hands touched his abdomen – his unscratched abdomen. There was the usual ache associated with a freshly whitelighter-healed injury, but nothing more. Wyatt had healed him.

Chris grinned at his brother. "Thank you."

* * *

Gideon was on the ground, shuffling backwards, his shoes catching on his robes, trying to get away from Leo who was steadily pursuing him. He was terrified. 

"Leo, please, you have to understand! I'm only doing this for the Greater Good, I swear!"

"You murdered my son!" Leo roared. "And you want to kill my other one, too, my infant child." He lunged forward and grabbed hold of Gideon, pulling him up so he could glare right into his face. "How is killing a child ever for the Greater Good, huh? And who the hell are you to decide it is, _huh?_"

"I'm an Elder! So are you!" Gideon cried, trying to reason. "It's what we do!"

"Well, then I'm not one of you anymore."

Gideon conjured an athame, but Leo knocked it from his grasp and threw him across the room. He hit the wall a good few metres above the ground, then dropped, landing in a heap on the floor.

Gideon dragged himself to his knees. "Leo, listen to me," he begged, and wiped at a split lip. "You know what happens. You know what Chris came here to stop. Let me finish what I started. Let me save the future, the only way it can be saved."

"You're the reason the future's threatened, Gideon," Leo told him, coldly. "Not Wyatt, but because of what you do to him."

"No…"

"I'm about to make sure neither one of you get the chance again. Mirror!" Leo waved his hand and the mirror appeared, leaning against the wall. It showed the Evil Leo standing amongst the greenery and colourful petals of his version of the underworld.

"You ready?" the Evil Leo asked.

Leo nodded. "Remember, you can't do anything. I have to do this alone."

"I know."

"Do…do what?" Gideon asked, his voice trembling in fear.

A cruel grin distorted Leo's face, as he looked down at his son's murderer. "A Great Evil."

* * *

Phoebe and Paige were sat on the plastic chairs in the waiting room for the maternity ward. 

"What's taking him so long?" Phoebe asked, anxiously.

"The nurse said he would be out in a minute," Paige said, twisting her hands in her lap.

"No. Yes, I know. No, I mean Leo," Phoebe clarified. "Do you think he's found Gideon yet?"

"I hope so," Paige replied, quietly. "Chris didn't have much time left…"

"It's been over an hour. Do you think…?"

Paige looked away, blinking back tears.

"Oh." Phoebe looked down at her hands.

They heard a door open and a man dressed in scrubs came down the hall towards them, removing a surgical mask from his face as he walked.

"Dr Roberts, how's Piper?" Phoebe asked, quickly standing up, Paige rising alongside her.

The doctor smiled, the peculiar grin that everyone was sporting these days. "Well, that depends on how you look at it, I suppose," he said, cheerily. "Me, I like to think she's moving on to a better place."

"What?" Paige stared at him in alarm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Phoebe pressed.

"Well, I think you know what I mean. She's hemorrhaging." The doctor gave a highly irritating and inappropriate chuckle. "We can't stop it. It's everywhere! But let's all try to think positively, shall we?"

"Now, you listen to me," Phoebe insisted, angrily. "You get your ass back in that room and save my sister and her baby! Do you understand me?"

"Security!" Dr Roberts called.

Two security guards looked up from down the hall and came striding towards them. The two sisters winced and turned away.

"Ok, they shoot people here, remember?" Paige hissed.

"We have to get Piper out of here," Phoebe whispered. "We need to get her to Leo."

"We can't. We don't know where Leo is."

"Well, we can't just do nothing!"

They looked over at the guards, who were reaching for their guns. Then suddenly everything slowed right now. Around the sisters, the world moved in a sluggish manner that was too slow to be natural.

"What's going on?" Paige asked, looking around in confusion.

Phoebe just shook her head, equally bewildered.

Outside the windows, the sky darkened into night and lights flickered on all over the city. Then the world got back up to speed, like someone had just taken their finger off a button. The security guards walked right passed the sisters, without giving them a glance.

"Everything's back to normal?" Phoebe wondered aloud.

She and Paige turned back to the doctor.

He was frowning with concern. "I'll do everything I can. I promise."

Paige nodded, sighing in relief.

"Excuse me," he said, and hurried back to the operating room.

"Leo must've done something," Paige concluded, turning to her sister.

* * *

Gideon dropped to the ground, landing as a bundle of smoking robes next to the mirror. The mirror showed the same image of him, though the Evil Leo stood off to one side, having done nothing. 

"You have no idea…what you've done," Gideon rasped, glaring at Leo one last time.

Then the Elder's eyes closed, his breathing hitched and he slumped. Almost at once, his form crumpled, turning to ash.

"Didn't know you had it in you," the Evil Leo piped up from the mirror.

"Our worlds can never cross over again," Leo said, seriously.

"Take care of your family."

"You too."

At the same time, the two Leos blasted the mirror with blue energy from their hands and it exploded.

Tiny, shining shards of glass spun in the air, catching the light as they turned and slowly made their way to the ground, clinking against the rock.

Leo lowered his arms, his shoulders sagging and his expression that of grief, now that his anger was gone.

* * *

"Dad?" 

Leo turned and saw Chris standing in the entrance to the cavern, holding Wyatt.

He staggered forward in shock. "Chris! You're alive…"

"Yeah, thanks to this little guy." Chris grinned and bounced the child in his arms. "He healed me."

Leo was upon them at once, embracing them both, his eyes wet with tears of relief and joy. Then he took Wyatt out of Chris's hands, and held him close, kissing the child on the forehead.

"Who's a clever guy, then?" he cooed, tickling a smiling Wyatt on the cheek. "Yes, you are. Yes."

Chris smiled. They'd done it – Wyatt was safe. Then suddenly Chris's smile dropped, his eyes rolling up into his head, as he wavered dizzily. He tipped forward.

Leo caught Chris with one arm, stopping him from falling. "Chris? Chris, what's wrong?"

"Woah…" Chris gripped hold of his father's shoulder, nausea washing over him in turbulent waves.

"Here, sit down." Leo guided his trembling son down into a sitting position, his back against the wall.

Chris had turned a sickly pale colour and his skin was slick with sweat. He tipped his head back, resting it against the rock, and took some ragged deep breaths.

"Something's happening. I…" Chris's words broke off, and he flashed out of existence for a second.

He reappeared, only to then seem to judder between solid form and vanishing. He was there for a fraction of second, then gone. Flashed into translucent appearance. Then gone. Then back and solid. Then gone.

Leo could do nothing but watch in fear, Gideon's earlier warnings echoing in his mind.

Finally, Chris appeared and stayed visible and solid. His head slipped to one side, eyes closed, his lips blue and parted as he gasped for breath.

With Wyatt still in his arms, Leo knelt down and reached out to brush a soaked strand of dark hair off Chris's feverish forehead. "Chris?"

The young man's eyelids fluttered, finally drawing back to reveal green eyes that focused on his father.

"It seems I'm staying here…" Chris muttered, weakly. An exhausted smile appeared on his lips.

Leo responded with a much broader grin. "It looks that way." He touched Chris's shoulder. "Do you think you can stand up?"

Chris nodded, slightly. "I think so."

With help from his father and the cavern wall, Chris managed to get to his feet.

Leo wrapped an arm around Chris's shoulders. "I think we have a new arrival to greet into the world," he said.

Chris was only half listening. He frowned, thoughtfully looking down at his hands and flexing his fingers.

Leo turned to Wyatt, smiling, and jostled him up a little higher in his arms. "Are you ready to meet your little brother?"

_TBC..._


	4. Part IV

**.IV.**

When Chris orbed into the maternity ward waiting room, along with his father and brother, he barely had time to take in his surroundings before his two aunts flung themselves onto him. They hugged so tight he actually felt water prick his eyes.

"Ok, ok, um, I can't actually breathe…" he mentioned, smiling all the same.

They released him and after planting great big kisses on his cheeks, they moved on to Wyatt. Who got pretty much the same treatment, being dragged out of Leo's arms and hugged, and kissed, and bounced up and down.

Chris lowered himself onto a plastic chair and leant back, very much in need of some sleep. However, his aunts had said Piper was in the operating room, and he wasn't going to be able to shut his eyes until he knew she was all right. He was worried about the baby, too. There had been a clear link between him and the child in his mother's womb for the last nine months, but now he wasn't so sure they were exactly the same person anymore…

His father seemed to think that what had happened to him in the underworld cavern was the fabric of time struggling to adjust to the numerous paradoxes. It didn't seem to have occurred to Leo that perhaps the reason had been not because his baby self was born, but because he had died…

Chris had encountered disappearing issues before, when his time to be conceived was rapidly running out. He couldn't help but wonder if the same sort of thing had just happened, only the severe alteration to the timeline they had just made had protected him – saved by a paradox.

There was certainly something odd going on. He studied his hands as he flexed his fingers again. Something felt different…

Earlier, Leo had thought he had died. That seemed to suggest to Chris that maybe his baby self had died then…confusing Leo's magical ability to sense him and his well-being. But that didn't match up with his flickering in and out of existence, which had happened significantly later.

Then there was this odd feeling he was having. He felt detached, separate, unconnected…

Chris sighed, heavily. Or maybe he was just tired, he reasoned.

"How's Piper?"

Chris looked up at the sound of his father's voice and saw the doctor coming to speak to them.

"She's resting comfortably," Dr Roberts said.

"Is she ok?" Phoebe asked.

"We stopped the bleeding, obviously had to perform a c-section, but I think she's going to be ok."

"And the baby, is he alright?" Chris called out, ignoring the bewildered looks the others gave him.

"You tell me." The doctor grinned and pushed the doors open to the recovery room.

He stepped aside, letting them see Piper's bed being wheeled into position. A nurse came towards them, carrying a baby wrapped in a blanket.

"Congratulations," the nurse said. "He's perfectly healthy."

"Really?" Chris moved forward, anxiously watching the nurse carefully pass the precious bundle into Leo's arms.

"Oh, look…he's beautiful!" Phoebe cried. "Baby Christopher."

Leo turned to the adult Chris. "Say hello to little you," he whispered, very softly.

Chris bit his lip nervously and awkwardly accepted the baby into his own arms. He looked down into the baby's tiny face, and green eyes blinked owlishly up at him.

And then he knew.

They weren't the same, not quite.

The connection between them had waned in and out of appearance as the future consequences shifted, time rolling and trying to settle into a coherent order. Magical signals had flickered on and off like a faulty light bulb, as the two versions of Chris merged and parted. Until finally, the elder Chris was like a renegade droplet of water, rippling the surface of the universal lake as he moved. However, the ripples had dissipated, and paradoxes had managed to protect him in the end, allowing him to exist alongside everyone else.

There would be no going back to his future – that didn't exist anymore. Also, there would be no going to the future he had strived to achieve – that wasn't his anymore. However, he did have a future; he had a place in time, albeit an unconventional one.

And that was here.

_.Fin._

* * *

A/N: What do you all think? An enjoyable, credible alternative finale to season 6? ...or not? 


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